facing kids with a completely impossible choice. you want an education but you can't pay for it. this is an example of us doubling down on failure when the government gets into things, a lot of time, it messes them up in the impact example is freddy and fannie and the entire economic mess we're in which was created by the government deciding to get involved in home mortgages. how many more things do we want to injecthe government in. they're the ones driving this cost. >> our next question will come from bill milr and go to jonathan dine. >> the u.s. postal svice is very important to most of the people in this room today. it is now trying to go into a program that would compete and be unfair to newspapers. in many cases, newspapers

the largest customer for the post office in the community. what i like to know is, what is your position on this issue and the other issues of closing rural post offices and iminating saturday livery. what's your position on this? what would do you in the senate to help rural newspapers and community newspapers that depend on the ptal service? >> like many of the things run by the government, the postal office is one of them that's very inefficient. i have a friend who works for the postal office as mail carriers. he gets four days straight, ten hours a day. every time he's needed, he gets more oveime. the federal government instead of hiring postal service, will prefer to pay double time or time in a half to one individual wasting more money instead of hiring more people and creating more jobs.

i think that the postal service should cut cost if it wish to remain around. maybe increase the price of a stamp and i would be in favor of closing postal service on saturday. we are in a fiscal crises. we do need to make tough choices. if one of them is cutting back on some of the services, we can wait until monday to receive our mail. >> todd akin? >> well, let me say first of all, postal office is something that's constitutional. government suppose to be ing that. all of you have grown up knowing the postman. you he he's going to bring a letter from somebody special. you expecting a packageou order and you're waiting and hoping the postman bring it. it's part of american traditn. there is a principle involved here and that is i think the best way when the government is doing something, is to have each thing set on its own base. that way we all know that we're not transferring money from one thing to

another thing or covering up something. i believe that the postal service needs to be following that kind of principle, and that is the amount of money that's being charged in stamps and the service they provide needs to match the cost of providing those services. that's the best way to solve this and all kinds of other questions. that's one of the reasons why for instance we have gasoline tax. because gasoline tax pays for the the roads. i believe that's probably the best principle overall to deal with the questions and post office. >> claire mccaskill if >> i'm going to try to quote todd akin exactly on this. he said, we can keep raising the prices, if they get too high, the private sector can take over. i disagree. it is in the constitution. we have had the finest and the most reliable and most comprehensive postal

service in the world. they have cut billions in expenses over the last several years. they have shrunk their woforce. what they've been required to do is prefund their pensions and healthcare for 75 years. no one in the private sector is required to prefund their pensions and healthcare for 75 years. no one in the governmental sector except the post office is required to do that. it's got them into a cash flow problem. we have to uncuff them and allow them to be entrepreneurial when it comes to the growth area postal service. i will tell you, mr. miller, you know this and many in this audience know this, a rural post office is more than bricks and mortar. i group in houston and lived in missouri, i still remember where the post offices where in those communities. it's a place the community came together and felt united. six day delivery is important. rural missouri for senior

that's need their medicine. the bill is bipartisan. it saved money. it is in the senate. congressman akin is part of the gridlock that won't ss it. i would ask you congressman akin go back to washington, stop campaigning and help us pass the postal bill. >> congressman akin would you like rebuttal time? >> first of all, i heard what the answer was. well, if you can't make the thing work, we'll just take money from somewhere else to help pay for it. i don't know that's a very responsible solution. the idea of the fact that the rural post offices are important, i never said they weren't important. think they're great. there has to be some kind of fiscal responsibility. it's not responsible to take all the stuff you want and we're going to somehow make money up here. that's where we're going and because of policies

like that and thinking like that, from claire mccaskill, that's why we're running over trillion dollars that we don't have trying to spend it every year. you want to talk about gridlock, let's talk about the senate. it is completely stuck. hasn't done any budget for 1200 dayses. >> senator mccaskill. >> let me tackle the budget quick. this entail fiscal responsible to save the post office. it doesn't take any tax dollars. it continues to make the post office reliant on their income. on the the budget, congressman akin knows last summer instead of passing a resolution t appropriators absolutely ignored. only way you spend money in washington is with an appropriations bill. it's not the budget resolution. all the budget resolution does is advisory an appropriators usually ignore it, as todd knows. we passed a law last year that limited the size of

the budget for two years. it actually says in the law, if you go to mccaskill. senate.gov. you can read it. we want to keep that spending down. this is a political talking points and it's unfair one. >> it time for our next question. will come from jeff fox go first to congressman todd akin. >> eimated 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 everyday. that has dramatic effects on medicare. what is the best approach to put medicare on a permanently secure financial footing? >> putting medicare on a firm financial footing is going to first of all, involve repealing obamacare. look, let's take a look at what obamacare does to medire. first thing it does is it cuts $700 billion out of

medicare. it's pretty hard to say you're in favor of medicare and cut 7er hundred billion dollars out of it. let's take a look at the second thing it does which is even worse. creates a 15 person board that will effectively be the people deciding who gets medical treatment and who doesn't. this is rationing. this is government rationing. if you want medicare to work properly, what we need to do is get away from the concept that the government has to do everything. in medicare right now, the government sets the prices of the cost of everything in medicine. we don't want the government setting prices. what in fact, we should allow series of people offer medicare to seniors and let them choose which one they want. it's a whole lot better to choose from different

providers. i think we need to get rid of the price setting which never works. you can go back to 1600 in england, it never works. the government shouldn't be price setting. just allow providers to offer the service to seniors so they have choices. thank you. >> claire mccaskill? >> the affordable healthcare act known as obamacare, does not cut one dime in medicare benefits. it realizes savings by taking some of the big profits away from the insurance companies, corporate welfare they were maki off medicare advantage. it lowers some of the reimbursments to hospitals but it depends on the fact we will have more paying customers. by the way, once again, it's the same $700 billion that he voted for the ryan plan a couple times. closes the donut hole and it stands solvency of medicare for eight years. what i didn't hear was his plan. his plan is to privatize

medicare. he wants to give seniors a voucher and once you spend your voucher you're on your own. if the premiums go up, you can't afford it, you're on your own. how do we fix it? there's a couple things we got to do. one we need to do some aggressive means testing. i know political season and i'm not suppose to say we will do anything like that. i believe in it. i don't think we can afford to buy donald trump's prescription drug. we can means test some of the medicare program and enact some of the savings program that are working. st. johns hospital in springfield, took their medicare population and with quality control and customer satisfaction, they were able to reduce $17 million in medicare payment that's were owed. as a result, they got a bonus of $4 million. that's what we need to do in a capitalistic system.

spending less money rather than incentivizing more treatment. >> jonathan dine >> like many of the government entitlement programs, medicare, medicaid are all coming to a cusp. they are coming towards a financial cliff where we will not going to be able to save them. i would propose block granting the states money based on population to deliver healthcare for seniors and people over 55. i feel that the states will be more closer to people of the state actually more listen to the legislator and provide you better service. any time you expect the government to manage your money efficiently, we can look at the record of spending mon wrecklessly with mismanagement. i feel hadwe really need to make tough choice or we will all be left with

nothing. >> congressman an and senator mccaskill privatized medicare. would you like to respond to that? >> the idea is that the senior has a choice in medicine. that's the idea. instead of having one size fits all, which is the big government solution. we're tryingo allow choices. look, there's one thing in medicine that i don't like. that's when an insurance company gets between the doctor and patient. one thing that works, that's when the federal government gets between the doct and patient. i don't support and neither to 71% of the missouri public support the bright idea of having the efficiency of the federal government and the compassionate the i.r.s. running our healthcare. i'm opposed to that. i voted 30 times to repeal it. when you get to the senate, i will be the one to vote to make sure it gets

repealed totally. >> i think it's important to remember that there is a lot misinformation about this bill. there's not a government plan in it. it's all privatinsurance. there's good things in it. you need to remember what congressman akin wants to repeal. he wants to repeal the ability of insurance companies. we wants to repeal kids being able to stay on their policy in their 26 years old. he wants to repeal on focus on prevention. he wants -- i think if missourians will give this legislation a chance, there going to be pleasantly surprised. >> the next question comes

-- it goes to claire mccaskill. >> what current issue federal government you feel least to address as u.s. senator and how you might prepare yourself to deal with it? >> i'm first? >> you are yes. >> i hope i am prepared since i have been blessed to serve in the state of missouri for six years. the thing that prepares me the most day in and day out is my focus on being here in missouri and traveling missouri. ..

who is looking out after them and making sure we do reduce spending and get rid of waste will earmarked. i spent time out in the veterans community. it is working with and listening to the people of the state i love. >> i am not a career politician. i am a regular ordinary american like many of you. i am concerned with the direction the country is heading in. career politicians do not seem to be serious about addressing the problems facing our nation.

there are more concerned with getting reelected. the thing that prepares me for this job is just being from the ground level. i understand i have an open mind and will listen to the people in the state. and i vote on bills and present a decision, i represent the people of missouri and not a lobbyist. i think one of the biggest problems with america is the career politician. i think we need term limits across the board. congress should be a revolving door of fresh ideas. too much stagnation has brought us to where we are now. >> no matter how much you work and prepare and a steady, when you are working in congress here are going to get issues that you do not know that much about because there is so much going on. we run into that all the time. our job is to get up to speed on the issue and render a good

issue on it -- a good judgment on it. on the wall street bailout, all of a sudden we were approached. paulson and looked like he was going to disintegrate. he was saying, the whole world economy will collapse unless to give us $700 billion of unmarked bills. we had to make a decision. he gave us two lousy choices. common sense says look for a third solution. you have to do some research and study something you are not sure of. to figure out what is going on. we did not need to buy goldman sachs, you have to focus on the principle and put the politics aside and do the right thing for the people of our state, our families, and our nation. if party bosses did not like it,

that is too bad. our job is to find the principle, do the right thing. a year or to the public for the politics is gone. if somebody asks you, why did you vote no on it, it is because we could've changed accounting rules and fixed the problem. start with the principle and to the right thing. >> our next question will come from bill miller.ion will come >> are you satisfied with this country's foreign policy in dealing with iraq and afghanistan? if you are not satisfi, what you think president obama should consider in a way of changes? >> i am not satisfied. as a libertarian, i seek a world at peace with other nations. i look to thomas jefferson's quotation for inspirion. peace, converse -- commerce, --

america should stop acting as the world's policeman. i do believe in a strong national defense, but the optimum board is defense, not offense. we do not have the mour money cy spent here at home. >> todd akin. >> it is important to have a foreign policy to start with. you have to have some basic principles, the guidelines. that needs to an acute -- includingraq, afghanist, a whole lot of other countries as well. the problem is we have not had that. what it seems like the vacillating policies we have almost punished our friends and helped o enemies. we decided to turn our backs on two of our allies, the czech

republic and poland. we had plans to build missile defense. we gave that is a concession to russia. how much has russia helped us with iran? how much has russia helped us with the situation in afghanistan? giving special attention to chavez and turning our back on netanyahu when he wanted to meet with the president, the sending of mixed signals is very destructive to foreign policy. in the case of egypt, for instance, we talked a little bit about that in a press release. this is a country that should be protectg our embassy. while we give the money? let's withholdny money for egypt until they start acting like a nation, protect our embassy, and start not fundamentally consulting us by built -- by burning our flags? >> claire mccaskill.

>> the war in iraq was mississippi. when i went to washington i went with the eyes of an auditor. harry truman is spinning in his grave over what went on in iraq. congressman akin not even go to require competitive contracts in iraq. i helped establish the war contacting commission when i got to washingto no one had paid much attention to this. we found $60 billion -- three years of the entire budget that almost went up in smoke in waste, fraud, a abuse. no one was minding the store. we have begun to clean that up. in afghanian, i support the mission of traing police and army, but what we are doing in turn up -- is wrong.

we're doing the same thing in afghanistan that we did in iraq. investing in highways, power plants, water projects that they cannot maintain. they cannot afford to sustain, and they're getting blown up or not used because they did not have the expertise. we need to pull out -- pulled out and the structure money out and bring it back to the united states of america. we need a big bridge near washington, missouri. we need more highways and missouri. we need dam projects on the missouri river. i disagree with that. >> the center mention something about your position on competitive contracts. did you want to respond? >> i believe competitive bidding is a good thing. what you have going in iraq is pretty interesting. you had people who were

terrorists. anything anybody did, they would load up or shoot anybody associated with it. -- they would blow it up or shoot anybody associated with it. the attacks on the idea of roads in afghanistan, the big economy and afghanistan is heroin. her win, you can put on a motorcycle -- heroin, you can put on a motorcycle and take somewhere. i have a kid serving in afghanistan. i he a kid almost killed in iraq. i understand the cost of what we are doing. i want to do it in the right way. >> did you want an additional 45 seconds? >>here was nothing about the contract and in iraq that did that require a competitive luck. there was nothing about that contracting. they finally did begin to compete for these contracts.

abramoff diaamming hand towels to dry up the cost -- they were model granting -- that was the contract. the famous halliburton contract that they completely took advantage of the american people on, this was a bill that would require competitive bidding and the congressman voted no. >> the next question goes to todd akin. >> the country cut the federal work force through attrition and freeze pay, close overseas military bases, cap spending at home, raise the gasoline tax, curtail the mortgage interest deduction, raise the payroll tax for social security, reduce entitlements as well as farm

subsidies and civilian and military pensions. it recommended a lower system of taxation. why hasn't this become at least thbeginning of a serious discussion about reducing the federal deficit? >> it was the starting point and there were a lot of good ideas in that particular commission. what we really stuck with -- ultimately, you have to put the whole thing into a budget to make it work. you have to balance those different elements and saywhat is a reasonable approach? it is all but what -- like what if -- it is a little bit what like families have to do. the budget has been set up for a vote and the budget has passed. was the budget i would have written? no, it was not quite as conservative. it was still a reasonable approach that puts us back on

track to recovery. those budgets, of course, go where? to the senate. what happens when we send bills to the senate? they die. the budget saw in the senate and died. -- sat in the senate and died. that is the reason i am running for the senate. the senate cannot get anything done. it is the fed's rule of law that we are supposed to have a budget every year. i do not think the debt ceiling increase and another 10%, the sequestration of defense, is not an excuse to do and what the law says. >> i agree with the congressmen that the proposal had some good ideas. we need to work off that framework. that was the framework the

president and john boehner are working on when they got in the agreement last summer prior to his passing a budget into law. they were going to try to move $4 trillion of debts off the books. the tea party shut it down. we are working on a bipartisan basis in the senate every day to try to cobble together a plan that will reduce 4-$5 trillion of debt. i am part of that grou we need to reduce mortgage interest. i do not believe anybody buys a second, because of the mortgage interest deduction. we should look at whether we should take a haircut on charitable deductions. we need to look at cutting farm payments. in fact, we did. we stopped all direct payments in the farm bill. we saved $23 billion in spending in a bipartisan farm bill the.

what is more important for 70 in missouri than a farm bill? -- for 70 in missouri than a farm bill? -- for certainty in missouri than a farm bill? they did not even take it up to vote on it. that is the kind of gridlock we do not meet in washington. >> jonathan dine. >> i agree with a lot of the ideas and the commission, except for the gasoline tax. americans already pay enough at the pump. wehould have really nice roads for that much money. it does not go far enough. a lot of those things were not implemented because of something -- political

cowardice, afraid to take onhe real issues because they are campaigning, they're worried about reelection. we do need to make some serious chois if we do want to save what we have. it takes someone who was willing to say no to reckless spending, say no to corporate interests. >> todd akin, there were some issues raised about the farm bill. would you like a rebuttal? >> i keep hearing that we passed a budget in the senate. we have not passed a budget in the senate in 1200 days. increasing the debt ceiling is not the same thing as a budget. increasing the debt ceiling, we do iover and over again as though we can just keep spending money. we cannot do that. that included and what resulted of -- and the sequestration, a

second time% cuts in defense. panetta was asked, he is the ceo for terry of defense appointed by obama -- he is the secretary of defense appointed by obama. this is like shooting yourself in the head. it is not a budget is a disaster. >> read the bill. if he will read the bill, he will find the language specifically that says, this act shall serve as the budget resolution for the fiscal year. this act shall serve zero as the budget resolution and it lays out the next year. you can read the bill and you can ad the budget in the bell. go on my website and you can read i guess what happened this year.

the appropriators followed it. we cut direct payments, which was hard for many farmers to swallow. it was a hard vote in the senate. the farm bill is essential to missouri. we need to get at the work of getting the farm bill done. >> jonathan dine, did you want 45 seconds on the deficit? >> i am ok. >> this will have to be our last question. >> the trust for america's health -- researchers estimate the projected increase in obesity rates will cost the united states $550 billion between now and 2013. what policies, if any, do you believe the government should adopt to prevent rising health- care costs caused by obesity- related diseases? >> this is a place that the government should keep their big

nose out. i do not think the government needs to be telling people what they should eat or what they should drink. i understand it is a struggle. i am a woman in her 50s, i have seven sizes of clothing in my closet. i go from one end to the other. tried to set a good example, you know, speaking out about it like michelle obama has done, considering the importance of physical activity for our chilen, making sure we support and promote that in ways that are advisory only and not requirement. also paying for prevention, making sure people can go see their doors and learning about the dangers of diabetes. if we can bring down diabetes in our adult population by just 10%, it is amazing what it does to the cost curve of are debt and deficit.

i would not be someone who thinks the governmen should get in the business of telling people what they should eat or drink. >> jonathan dine. >> the top five leading causes of death are all related to diet and lifestyle. they are all preventable. diet and exeise can make a big difference. i've been a personal trainer for 15 years. i help people motivate themselves. it is something that anybody can do at any age, but somebody needs to be a role model. the government should make incentives. it is the number one drai on our health care system overall. we do need to have some positive reinforcement instead of negative reinforcement. obesity does kill more people than war, murder, crime, drugs,

and everything else combined. if that is not a problem with the government should set a role model, i do not know what is. >> todd akin. >> all of us he things in our lives that are challenging. for some people, obesity is one of them. all of us are people. all of us have to try to manage those things and try to do the best pecan. -- the best we can. when the government starts to overstep and there are problems with jobs and all kinds of stresses, these problems become a lot worse. i agree, this is the first time i've agreed with clair this is not something the government should do. the federal government is telling you what kin of light bulb you should buy, i am glad there is something the federal government does not have to do.

this is part of being americans. this is part of living the dream in america, that we can challenge ourselves. i think we also have to have a love for each other. we are all americans, we are all god's children. we needo give people a hand when they needed or some encouragement. this is one of a whole series of things that put in the category of self-government. the way that we run our own lives responsibly. this is what has made america strong, we're good at doing that. >> that is the end of our question and answer session. it is now time for our closing statements. each candidate gets two minutes. >> america that is an absolutely unique and great country.

sometimes we forget. we fought two world wars, we have next no territory, crowned no kings, and then we voted to tax ourselves to rebuild our enemies. how often has that happened in world history? we have the oldest written constitution. this is to we are, we are americans. what is the secret of america's greatness? i would believe thait is pretty well captured by jefferson when he said, we believe there is a creative art who gives us life and liberty and pursuit -- a creator who gives us life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. for you to have the liberty of free speech, to be able to go vote or to keep the things you

earned and the pursuit of happiness, the essence of the american dream, that every single one of us are different, we are all equal important and each of us can go after what effort did is we have in our hearts to do. -- bill after whatever it is we have in our hearts to do. we follow those dreams and america has been built long dream at a time. that makes sense to we are. that is being threatened. and destroyed by people who are building washington, d.c., not protecting life, not protecting liberty, taking so much people -- do you want more washington and big government or do you want to protect the american dream? god himself intended us to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. thank you.

>> we have a choice. a choice between two candidates that have a much different view, but also the choice of whether we look back and blame or whether we look forward and fix. todd akin loves america and so do i.. todd akin believes america is unique and so do i.. but we have a different view about how we get to that shiny place on the mountain. we need rtainty for our business community. do we get it through gridlock or do we get through compromise? i am very proud that i am part of a group in the senate that believes in bipartisan compromise. i have stood up to my party a work with republicans to move the ball forward on tough compromises thatake a difference. he is part of the gridlock. where is the farm bill? where is the postal bill? where are the bills the tea

party is trying to shut down because they refuse to allow them to go forward? i've wked with a long list of republican senators. all these are things i have worked on with republicans to cut spending and to make are spending more responsible. the congressman wants to go back, he wants to go back to the same policies that created this mess in the first place. he wants to go back a policy were all you have to do is to a another tax cut for the wealthy and everything is going to be fine. no rules of the road for the greed of wall street. cuts in veterans benefits, give another tax cut to tom brady, eliminate student allowance, but give another -- privatize social security and medicare and but more cost on the backs of seniors, but give another tax

cut to the wealthiest will peak of america. i do not think we have to do that. let's go forward together and fix it. >> jonathan dine. >> the federal government has exploded in size. no area of your life, your business, or your wallet is free from the meddling of politicians. it does not have to be this way. you could keep more of what you earn. it would be easier to start a new business, building new home, and fuel real economic growth. we need more ordinary americans to stand up and take an active role in government. the political system would be better off if more credibility was given to libertarians. representre likely to a combination of views and think outside the box. it is time we break up some of the stagnation of the two-party system. i come to you as a concerned

american citizen who is worried about the direction of this country. i am worried about the uncontrollable debt, the endless wars, i am worri about the erosion of our civil liberties and personal freedoms. i am not a fine-tuned polish politicians like my opponents, but i do have -- polished politicians like my pundits, but i do have genuine qualities. if you do support me, you'll be supporting lower tax levels and more personal freedoms across the board. i promise to keep the republicans out of your bedrooms and the democrats out of your wallets. >> see the first of the debates wednesday night live on c-span,

c-span and radio, and c- span.org. next, joe biden campaigns and florida and it paul ryan speakes said a rally and new hampshire. at 7:00 your calls and comments on "washington journal." shaun donovan talks about the house and urban department. how housing issues figure into campaign 2012. "newsmakers" at 10:00 and 6:00 eastern on c-span. now, a vice president joe biden speakes said a campaign rally in the fort myers, florida.

this is about 40 minutes. >> all right. thank you very much.

thank you so very much. it is great to be back in fort myers. i always joke. a man should always have two things. a brother with a place in florida, and a brother in law with a pickup truck. for the long this time my brother had a place here in fort myers. i got to come down here all of the time. and then he sold it. i have not spoken to him since. i am only kidding. since i have been here a number of times over the last 20 years -- do you mind if i take my coat off? ok. thank you very much. when i got here and i was introduced to jamie, i thought

she was my sister a lot. she looks like my sister-in-law kelly more than you can imagine. thank you for the introduction. thank you for the hard work you have under way. all of the for being here on a saturday morning. i want to get right to it. the fact of the matter is, you know as well as i do that this country is facing the starkest choice for president that we have faced at least in my memory. now that gov. romney has made it official and picked paul ryan -- they are both good men. there are family men. they are both -- no. i do not need your boos. we need your help. i want to be straight with you. [applause] i have a bad reputation of being

a straight. telling you what i think. all kidding aside. with picking paul ryan, what gov. romney did is he has given clear definition to all of the vague assertions he was making during his primary campaign. he talked a lot about a lot of the things paul ryan is talking about, but never with any detail. by picking paul ryan and buying out why he picked paul ryan, he picked him because he does represent the ideological -- how can i say this, the center of the republican party. he said, that is why i am taking paul ryan. now, we do not have to guess about what gov. romney means when he talks about medicare,

social security, and education. it is almost like two incumbents running. paul ryan -- i mean this sincerely. paul ryan introduced a budget that past. it lays out in stark detail what they would do on everything from medicare to medicaid to social security to education to the debt across the board. we do not have to wonder anymore. we do not have to wonder exactly what gov. romney means when he says a, b, c, or d. they are not talking anymore about what paul ryan and mitt romney are really four. there are spending an awful lot of time telling you what we, barack obama and joe biden are against. they just attack everything.

the truth of the matter is, no where is it more clear what they would do that on medicare. but miss start off by -- i will give you a few specific examples to make a larger point. they have laid out clearly -- what barack obama and joe biden did is they have stolen money from medicare and they have done it to get obamacare and all of this. you see it in the ads. nothing could be further from the truth. everyone in this room on medicare or knows somebody on medicare knows since barack obama acted, your parents and those of you have more benefits than before. [applause] any of you on medicare know that now if you hit that doughnut

hole where you have to pay all of your prescription drug costs, you are saving $800 a year more than you would if barack obama had not acted. you can now go in for a wellness visit that you think you need. you do not have to pay a co pay for a regularly scheduled things like colonoscopy is and mammograms. [applause] so, it is a bold faced represent -- misrepresentation. i do not know how they can say that with so many recipients knowing they are better off. the thing that most people do not know is that the action of -- the action the president took has strengthened the medicare fund and exceeded it until 2024. [applause]

i say to those who might have seen this on television or read it in the newspaper. ask yourself if what romney and ryan are saying about obama and joe biden is true about medicare, why would the american medicare association endorsed our position. why would the hospital association. why would aarp in dorset? -- endorse it? they have no credibility on this issue. secondly what they do not tell you is equally as important as what they tell you. they do not tell you what they would do about medicare. the first thing they would do, if they took the action they are proposing to take were they to win on january of next year, you would eliminate the new benefit. $800 more for prescription

drugs, wellness visits. it would also move medicare trust fund to insolvency in 2016, three years from now. what they really do not want to talk about any more, they do not want to tell you they are not for medicare. they are for vouchercare. this is a fact. they say it will not affect anybody on medicare now. it will not kick in for 10 years. if you are 55 years old, it will kick in. a couple of years ago, the intellectual gravelling of the right came up, and they laid down a proposal. paul ryan introduced a proposal in the house saying that we are going to give mom and dad a voucher. that voucher is worth x amount

of dollars. they are going to be able to buy private insurance or buy back into medicare if they want. what they do not tell you is there is not enough money to get the same coverage. the congressional budget office, the cbo, everybody acknowledges they are an honest broker. they came along and said it will cost seniors who are 55 years old now when they get to medicare, it will cost them an additional $6,500 a year to get the same benefits they get now. after they were told that, what did they do? they still introduced it in the house. the republicans voted for it.

mitt romney said, were he president, he would sign it into law, signed into law the requirement that you come up with $6,400 a year more for the same benefit. now they say to us, we do not have that plan anymore. guess what. they have a message for the american people. they say, we have a new plan. a new plan that will work better and save medicare. that new plan would cost somebody to 5 years old right now, $60,000 a year more over the life of medicare. the reason i bother to tell you how this is because it goes to motive. can you imagine me voting for a proposal that at $6,400 a year to the cost of medicare or $60,000 over the life of it.

the name of a i come from, that would mean the people getting medicare would not be able to hit hit medicare. -- would not be able to get medicare. they would not get nearly the and it is they have now. i do not know anybody who has an extra $6,400 a year for health care when they are seniors. [cheers and applause] can you imagine president barack obama putting forth a plan that says it will cost another $60,000? the also sat there at the convention -- it is amazing how they talked about the urgency to get the national debt under control. they had the clock in the back. [laughter] they said, we realize the president was handed a difficult situation. situation. but he has not done much